Promise
by eternallycharmed
Summary: Unchanged future. One-shot. Chris is hurting after one of Leo's visits and it's up to Wyatt to comfort his little brother.


Disclaimer: Don't own Charmed.

This is set in the Unchanged future, Wyatt is eight and Chris is six.

A/N: I was really in the mood for some Chirs h/c and in my mind Wyatt doesn't turn evil until Piper dies, so he would have been a good big brother to Chris for a while. And I hope I didn't make Leo sound to mean. I think he's more oblivious to Chris' needs than mean to him. Please R&R!

Happy Reading!

"Chris."

"Chris!"

Wyatt Matthew Halliwell walked—okay, ran—through the halls of the Halliwell manor, attempting to locate his wayward little brother. He knew he was somewhere in the house, he could sense that much, but the jerk was cloaking his _exact_ location.

Wyatt had looked in all of his favorite hiding spots—the hall closet where they kept the coats, the large chest in the attic, a nearly empty cupboard in the kitchen, on top of the refrigerator (Wyatt never did understand that one, but that was Chris for you), and underneath a couch in the conservatory—all lacking in Chris'. Wyatt was beginning to get frustrated.

He understood Chris' feelings toward their absentee father and he tried to get them to do something, anything, alone together. But he only succeeded in making it worse. Chris would just get his hopes up, only to be let down by their dad as he shot down all of Wyatt's 'let's include Chris' ideas.

He just didn't understand how their father could be so dense, always there for Wy when he needed him, but never ever there for Chris. He seemed completely clueless when it came to his younger son. Completely clueless…

He had come for a visit today, kissing mom (ew), hugging Aunt Phoebe, and pulling Wyatt down next to him on the couch, demanding a play by play of everything in Wy's life since they had last seen each other.

Well, Wyatt was halfway through a story about his last basketball game (which he won, by the way) when Chris couldn't hold still any longer. So he yelled out, "Hey daddy!" and gave the man a hug, starting to tell him he'd missed him and that he'd discovered the "most awesomest" Playstation game ever (Wyatt knew for a fact that his brother had been waiting weeks to tell dad that he'd gotten to the highest level) when dad stopped him saying,

"Christopher, I was speaking to your brother. It's not nice to interrupt someone when they're talking."

Wyatt saw Chris' face droop and a sad expression came over his features as he opened his mouth to apologize for something that wasn't really the six-year-olds fault. So he quickly butted in,

"It's okay, dad. He's just excited to see you. Let him talk, basketball can wait until till later. You've been to games before."

"No, Wyatt." Dad said. "It's nice of you to forgive your brother rudeness, but its not okay. Christopher, apologize to you're brother and learn to wait your turn."

Dad stared expectantly at Chris as he ducked his head and murmured "Sorry" so quietly that Wyatt could barely hear him.

"Louder Chris and _sincere_." Dad scolded.

"I'm sorry." Chris repeated, louder this time and dad nodded, turning back to Wyatt. He glanced again at his brother and the sight almost broke his heart. Chris' eyes where swimming with unshed tears, thick lashes sticking together in clumps as shame and confusion mixed on his face. He didn't know what he did wrong, except that his daddy was angry and it was his fault.

Wyatt offered him a small smile and gestured to the space on couch next to him. Chris shook his head, not returning the smile, and turned slowly toward the kitchen where mom was.

Dad was looking at him expectantly so Wyatt reluctantly returned to his story.

An hour later dad left, giving Wyatt a hug and a promise to attend his next basketball game (Wyatt didn't have the heart to tell him the season was over), mom another kiss (ew) and a promise to drop in for family dinner on Thursday, before orbing out and forgetting Chris entirely.

That was an hour ago and he still couldn't find where Chris had hidden himself.

Wyatt checked the second floor again and a sound brought him to a stop at the bedroom he shared with Chris. The door was open a crack and he slowly pushed it open, softly calling out Chris' name. The sounds stopped immediately, but not before he caught a strangled sob and saw the bedspread move.

Wyatt peeled back the covers to find… no Chris. Scratching his head, he got down on all fours and peered under the bed. And there was Chris, curled into a tight little ball, eyes red from crying, small body shaking with suppressed sobs.

Huh, a new hiding space for the Where's Chris List…

"Chris-." Wy began.

"Go away." Chris sniffed, silent tears streaking down his face.

Wyatt sighed and pulled his brother out from under the bed kicking. He gathered him up in his arms and waited until Chris stopped struggling and buried his face in his big brother's chest.

He mumbled quiet reassurances to Chris as he rubbed comforting circles into his back, like mom did when Wyatt was upset about something (at least until he got to be a big boy and didn't need his mom anymore... he didn't… really).

Chris crying finally subsided some 20 minutes later, his shaking having eased within the first five. His breathing evened out and Wyatt listened to the sounds of his little brother sleeping and silently promised that he'd always be there to wipe the tears away and make the pain of rejection a little easier to stand.


End file.
